


Heat Haze

by ZettaFresh



Series: Heat Haze: The Life and Times of Nanako Dojima [1]
Category: Persona 4, Persona 5
Genre: It's going to get wild yall I promise, Multi, New Protagonist, Teen Nanako
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-10-10
Updated: 2019-10-10
Packaged: 2020-12-07 19:03:58
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death, Underage
Chapters: 1
Words: 691
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20980847
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ZettaFresh/pseuds/ZettaFresh
Summary: “It was the middle of that summer, it was so hot that you could look down the street and watch the heat rise up from the concrete streets and wave at you at it left towards wherever heat haze goes. I was just a girl back then, Well, I’m a girl now, but I was an ‘ordinary’ girl. Nothing like what I do now.”“And what is it that you do now, Nanako?”I smirked, tilting my nose up at the man interrogating me, “Wouldn’t you like to know?”His face expressed no amusement, he’d clearly was used to this sort of thing. The father I knew at home was quick to anger, but apparently his job, he took seriously. “Yes, I would. Start from the beginning.”





	Heat Haze

The car was silent, at least between the two of us. The radio chattered softly about things I had no interest in, and having another fight with Dad trying to listen to actual music wasn’t what I needed right now. So I had my eyes closed, pretending to be asleep. After a few minutes, I had to pee, and I mentally cursed the current silent stalemate that was this car ride. To distract myself, I turned my thoughts to the kid we were supposed to pick up. Dad hadn’t told me his age, so I assumed he was the same as me. Supposedly he was my cousin or something. 

I’ve never met the guy, or my aunt for that matter. Dad gets all clammy when I ask about family. I just want answers. The sooner he gives them, the sooner I’ll leave him be. I don’t want to spend more time with him than I already have to. His dead fish eyes get on my nerves, but I suppose he’s all I’ve got in this world. 

I feel the car stop and I lazily open my eyes. It’s the train station. The only way in or out of good ol’ Inaba without a personal vehicle. Two more years and I’d be able to get a scooter. But for now, duty calls. I unlocked the door and stepped out of the car, wincing as the light flooded my vision. And there he was, the kid- well, he was definitely older than I was. By how much, I was not sure. The guy was built like a fridge, I didn’t know highschoolers could be that buff. His silver hair hung in his face a bit, and he looked as if the earth itself was pissing him off. He finally noticed us and we walked over, I hid behind my father a little, wanting nothing to do with this brute. 

“Ah, so you’re Yu.” Dad said, an obviously faked smile on his face, “You look way bigger than your photo.” 

“Yeah, I get that a lot.” Yu replied, nodding, “It’s nice to meet you both,” 

They both turned to look at me, with Dad laughing a bit, “What are you acting all shy for, Nanako?” 

Wanting nothing more than for this interaction to end, I said something quickly to move the conversation along, 

“’lo…” I squeaked, mentally cursing myself for choking. Now this guy is going to walk all over me! I had to fix that. Thinking on my feet, I gave my still laughing dad a quick kick to his calf before haughtily walking back to the car. Yeah. That’ll do. 

As soon as we got into the car, I sighed, forgetting to go pee. Unsurprisingly, we didn’t talk much in the car. Three perfect strangers, driving to a shared home. The car finally stopped at the service station, and my legs were free to move again. I got out of the car and stretched a bit. “Dad, I’m going to the bathroom.” As I turned and walked off, I accidentally bumped into the gas station attendant, who was rushing over here for some reason. She fell on her butt, and I offered a hand “Sorry, about that. You okay?” 

She took my hand, and stood to her feet, “Hehe, thanks. I wasn’t looking where I was going.” She replied with a gravelly voice, rubbing the back of her neck sheepishly, 

“Hey, can you tell me where the restrooms are?” I asked, returning the smile she gave, and after she pointed it out I found the restrooms easily enough. After relieving myself, I felt pretty great, taking my time to wash around each of my fingernails as I normally do, when it hit me. 

For a split second, the world turned inside out, and I felt something snap in my brain. When I regained my bearings, I was drenched in sweat, grasping the sides on the sink for support, I was lucky my head didn’t smash into the mirror. Shaking the funk off, I dried off with a paper towel, thinking nothing of it, as it had left as quickly as it came.


End file.
